Hi
As most of you know I have got a Rover 75. Had it MOT'd last week and failed on NSR ball joint. Garage contacted supplier and Rover part was on a 3 week backlog...no good as needed car.
Remembered that last year the other side needed doing and it had a BMW part fitted from either 3 or 5 series - cant remember which now! Mentioned this to garage and they called supplier and the BMW was the same. Only problem was:
Rover part - £68+vat +fitting
BMW part - £117+vat +fitting
Cut a long story short, got car back today and mechanic said that the part came in same box and part was exactly the same as the one that came off..only more expensive because it came in BMW box.
How can this be for the same piece of steel??
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And the 'trade price' on the BMW part was probably about £70 - so the mechanic made £50 out of the job before he even fitted it (not complaining - I do the same).
The price of the part has nothing to do with its 'value'. BTW - I think you might want to contact the wonderful "X-Part" who supposedly have all these Rover bits available. Not very good if something as humble as a ball joint cannot be supplied. I needed a very obscure trim part for a '96 Nissan Skyline (never officially sold in the UK) and was quite surprised when I rang the dealer at 4pm, gave him the part number and he told me it would be in next morning - and it was! Wasn't cheap mind you!
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>>And the 'trade price' on the BMW part was probably about £70 - so the mechanic made £50 out of the job before he even fitted it
he still wouldnt have made too much money out of it. he only quoted 1.5 hrs labour to start with and stuck to this despite it taking about 4 hrs - was whole wishbone and had to be mounted onto steering rack.
No more knocking though so was worth it...thought the wheel was about to fall off over uneven surfaces!!
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S'pose if you can afford a BMW...
Someone told me that if you can find the same parts used on a commercial vehicle/van then they're much cheaper. The example given was Volvo headlamp - I forget the exact prices but it was something like £150 for the car and £30 for the truck.
Hmm.. I wonder if that works with Mercedes?
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It has always been like this. Many years ago you could buy Norton pistons or Hepolite, the Norton ones cost more but the two items came from the same factory. Same with silencers, Burgess or Triumph - you paid more for the Triumph name.
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BMW have always been expensive on parts. They keep the cost of service items down (filters, belts etc are pretty cheap), but for the more infrequently requested parts they really sting you - especially any electronics.
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>>Norton pistons or Hepolite,
Norton Dominators used the same rings as a Ford 100E. About a million quid for the Norton ones if Happy Hamrax in Ladbroke Grove* could actually find any, or 7/6 for the Ford 100E ones.
* I wonder if he's still there, I used to get all my Matchless stuff there as well. Fascinating place.
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Well how 'bout that. I reckon the last time I used them was probably 20 - 25 years ago.
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If you had gone to Euro car parts then you would have paid far less,they have a overnight deliry service if you cannot reach one of there branches.I think the part is is around 26+ vat but check yourself.Regards Andy
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I have found Euro Carparts very good.
I purchased a cambelt tensioner from Peugeot which cost me approx £52. When a replacement was required, Euro Carparts charged £28 plus VAT. When I checked the unit at the counter it was identical to the Peugeot part with the same makers name stamped on it.
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Which company is still in business?
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